The Amnesia Which Kagami Has
by NE1410IS
Summary: The last memory Kagami has is going to bed as a fifteen year old. Fifteen years later, he wakes up and discovers he's suffering from amnesia. A host of friends and foes from his teenage years show up to help him fill in the gaps, and Kuroko is especially supportive - but people and relationships change a lot in just 15 years, as Kagami is about to find out. [KagaKuro]
1. Chapter 1

Kagami had never been a morning person. It wasn't unusually to see him falling asleep during first period (or any other period, for that matter), or running morning laps with sleep in his eyes and his hand covering his mouth as he yawned.

He usually had difficulty waking up, but for some reason, coming out of whatever sleep he was in now actually hurt. His head ached, a dull, throbbing pain, and his vision was slightly blurry as he blinked awake. The room he was in was not his own. The walls were white, the bed uncomfortable, and there was a hum of activity and noise in the corridor outside. He lifted his hand and felt something tugging on his wrist, and he looked down and felt his heart beat a little faster as he saw a drip attached to him. What had happened to him…?

He couldn't remember how he got here, he thought, with a creeping sense of dread. The last thing he remembered was afternoon practice- going out to get food with Kuroko- then he'd come home, did his history homework (sloppily, I might add), and fell over into bed. None of that made sense, though, when he tried to connect it to where he was now. People didn't just go to sleep and end up in hospital.

And something else was wrong, too. The hands he was looking at were not his own.

Or rather, they were his. He recognised them, big and tanned and calloused from handling basketballs. But there was something _wrong _about them – there was a scar he didn't recognise, one that extended from between his ring finger and pinkie and reached the bottom of his palm, from a cut that would have been sore and couldn't possibly have healed up overnight. His nails, too, had changed; he'd never really taken care of them before, but now they were clipped short and neatly filed. He ran his thumb over them idly. Smooth as a baby's bottom.

What had happened…?

He was dragged out of his thoughts when he heard a voice say, "Kagami-san," and he looked up to see a man in a white coat. A doctor. The badge on the breast of his white coat read: Sakamoto.

"How are you today?" Dr Sakamoto said, moving to the edge of the bed. He cradled a clipboard in his left arm, a pen held poised in his right. "How are you feeling? Any pain?"

"A little," Kagami replied. He was too confused to say much else.

"We'll get you something to help with that soon. For now, I'd like to talk to you a little," Sakamoto said. "You were in a car accident, Kagami-san. You're in a stable condition now, but we're a little concerned about you still. Can you tell me the date?"

Kagami frowned. He couldn't remember any accident, and he didn't know why he was being asked that, but more worryingly, he didn't know why he didn't know what the date was. He thought back, hard as he could; he remembered writing the date on the top of his history homework last night.

"January 9th."

"And the year?"

Kagami stared at him. The doctor pressed, "What year is it, Kagami-san?"

That had to be a trick question, right? He could see getting the date wrong – after all, maybe he'd been knocked out for a few days – but there was no way he could get the _year_ wrong.

"2012."

He'd thought there was no way he'd get the year wrong, but the doctor was concerned as he wrote something down, and Kagami wished he could see what he was writing.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Dr Sakamoto said, shaking his head. That only pissed Kagami off. Being told nothing was wrong when something clearly was wrong was the most annoying thing in the world. "Tell me, Kagami-san – does the name Kuroko Tetsuya mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does," Kagami grumbled, irritated. "He's my friend. We're team mates."

The doctor didn't write anything down this time, but he stared at Kagami for a few seconds before saying, "Okay. I'll be back soon, Kagami-san. Please rest. You lost a lot of blood in the accident, and you need to let your body heal itself."

Is that why he felt like crap?

"On top of that, you fractured your skull, and your collarbone is broken."

Oh. So that was why his head ached, and why it felt like it was about to fall off whenever he moved.

"Until then, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask anyone for help."

Kagami nodded silently. Of course.

The doctor left. He'd been given a pretty good idea of what had happened to him, but Kagami still didn't feel satisfied. He knew nothing. He could tell he hadn't answered the questions the way the doctor wanted him to – but then, what did that mean? Was it really not the year Kagami thought it was? And why had he asked about Kuroko of all people?

Kagami sat still for a few minutes, and then he decided he had to do something. He couldn't just sit there while nobody told him anything. He sat up properly, wincing as his body protested. With a lot of effort, he swung his legs over the side of the bed – his left one hurt like a _bitch_ – and stood up.

He bit down hard on his lip to remain quiet as pain shot through him. It was agony, like nothing he'd felt before – but he told himself he was fine. An injured body could still move, even if it hurt. He limped over to the cabinet beside his bed, rifling through it, and after finding no clues in it to where he was, _when _he was and how he got there, he turned towards the door. He supposed it was lucky that he'd had a private room, because they curtains were drawn over the window that separated him and the rest of the ward and he could stumble about without someone seeing and coming in to return him to bed.

He took hold of the drip stand he was attached to and dragged it with him as he hobbled over to the door. It opened onto a bathroom, as he'd expected, but what he hadn't expected was who would be in there.

A stranger was staring at him.

It wasn't another person, though; he was looking into a mirror, but the face that stared back was unfamiliar. He could see parts of himself in it – those dumb double eyebrows, his eyes – but other parts were unfamiliar. He didn't have those creases on his forehead, last time he checked, and his hair hadn't been cut this short since he was a kid. He leaned against the door frame.

He looked old. The kind of old you were afraid to be when you were a kid.

"What the hell is going on…?" He muttered, reaching up a hand to touch at his face, still in disbelief that it was _his _face.

He was in a state of shock, and he barely heard the door of the room open and hurried footsteps cross the floor to him.

"Taiga!"

"Kuroko."

Kagami recognised the voice immediately, even if it was calling him a name it normally wouldn't. It was like his hands, like his face – different, strange, but familiar and unmistakable. He let the other support him when he felt his body sag and he fell forward, and by some miracle (because even in this weird reality he found himself in now, Kuroko was a good half a foot shorter than him) they made their way over to the bed. Kagami collapsed on it, eyes shut and teeth grit as he let out a low hiss. He'd pushed himself too far trying to get over it, and he was feeling the burn.

"Taiga, you really shouldn't be up and about," Kuroko chastised him, and it took Kagami a moment to realise what was wrong with the sentence. It wasn't the concern in his voice - though he didn't think he'd ever heard Kuroko sound so worried. It was something else.

"What did you call me?" He grunted, looking up. He blinked, his vision clearing, and took in the image of Kuroko. The other was the same as always, though he was wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants that were definitely not school uniform.

"Tai…" Kuroko began, but he caught himself. "I called you Kagami-kun, the same as always."

"You didn't," Kagami grunted, but he couldn't bring himself to argue. He didn't have the energy. "You called me by my first name. I heard you."

"Why would I do that?" Kuroko said bluntly, and Kagami was beginning to doubt himself. Kuroko was always polite – there was no way he'd be so casual all of a sudden. But then, this wasn't all of a sudden. This was however long had passed between that "accident" and now…

"Kagami-san, Kuroko-san." It was the doctor's voice that joined them now, sounding a little annoyed. Kagami opened his eyes, and he saw Dr Sakamoto with a frown on his face. "I thought I told you to rest, Kagami-san, not to go for a stroll," he said, but he was clearly not amused. His gaze swung to Kuroko, and he said, "And I thought I asked you to wait for me before going in, Kuroko-san."

His voice was gentler when he told Kuroko off, which Kagami found a little annoying. _He _was the one in pain here! He pulled himself back into bed and straightened his leg out, and Kuroko stood to help him pull the covers up over him. He hit the other's hands away and pulled them over himself. Why was everyone treating him like he was an idiot?

Kuroko looked to the doctor. "Should I stay?"

"Maybe it would be better," Sakamoto said. "You can help with some of the things Kagami-san doesn't remember."

Kuroko took a seat by the bed, but the doctor remained standing. Kagami looked to his friend, and he found himself surprised that he'd thought Kuroko looked no different before. The other hadn't aged as dramatically as he had, but there were clear signs that he'd grown in years – his features had hardened slightly, and he didn't seem as scrawny as he had before. The bags under his eyes- Kagami didn't know if they were from advancing age or tiredness, but either way, they weren't a good look for him.

"Let's start with some facts," Dr Sakamoto said. "It's currently February 14th, 2028."

Kagami gaped. No!

"Yes," Sakamoto said, "You're still Kagami Taiga. Is that a surprise? Did you think you were someone else?"

"No, I knew I was me," Kagami snapped. He wasn't a _total_ idiot. But he clutched his head in his hands as he muttered, "But that would make me… that would make me…"

Math had never been his strong suit, especially not math while he was already under stress. Kuroko helped him out. "Thirty, Kagami-kun. Turning thirty one this year."

"That's messed up," Kagami muttered.

"What age do you feel you are, Kagami-san?"

Kagami frowned at the doctor's question. That was easy. He was fifteen, duh! But there was an overwhelming amount of evidence that was beginning to prove him wrong on that point.

"I'm… I was fifteen, last I remember."

"And you don't remember anything between January, 2012, when you were fifteen, and today?" Sakamoto asked. Kagami shook his head, and the doctor frowned. "Then everything we've seen suggests you're suffering from retrograde amnesia – that is, you're missing memories from before your accident. Your brain scan shows everything is normal, though, so we don't think there'll be any impact on your memory from now on. It's just the missing memories that are the concern."

"Is there no way he could get them back?" Kuroko asked. Kagami was glad he did, because he was in too much of a daze to ask himself; he was still floored by the revelation that he was missing fifteen years of his life. Half of his memories- more than half of them, really- wiped clean in an instant.

"This area of medicine isn't one that's particularly well covered, unfortunately. It doesn't help that I'm not a doctor with a lot of experience in the condition- or neurology at all, for that matter." Well, that helped Kagami's confidence in him. Sakamoto continued, "There's a chance that Kagami-san will regain his memories and make a full recovery, but unfortunately recoveries are often spontaneous, and as far as I know there's no way to deliberately induce them. It's simply a matter of waiting at the moment."

"That's not very helpful," Kagami growled, and the doctor looked startled. It didn't even occur to Kagami that a thirty year old man was far more intimidating than how he was used to being seen.

"It'll be fine, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said. His hand moved to squeeze Kagami's forearm. "You can stay with me while you wait on your memories coming back. You don't need to worry."

He found the other's words oddly reassuring, though he didn't know why they were so comforting.

"Thanks," he muttered, and he didn't understand why the doctor looked so uncertain. What was wrong with that arrangement?

"Then, if you've got a place to stay, Kagami-san, I'll prepare your discharge for tomorrow." Kagami looked surprised, and Sakamoto said, "I'm sorry if it seems like we're throwing you out, but physically you're able to cope with some help from Kuroko-san, and we need to free up the bed. We'll be needing you to come in for check-ups, but beyond that you're perfectly find to go home."

"Thanks," Kagami muttered.

Sakamoto looked back to Kuroko. "I'm sorry to ask you this, Kuroko-san, but I'd like to cut visiting time short today. Kagami-san has been through a lot lately, and I don't want to overwhelm him."

Kuroko nodded, and Kagami half wanted to protest, but he stayed quiet. He wanted Kuroko to stay there with him, to fill him in on everything he'd forgotten, to explain who he was now, how they'd stayed friends after all these years… but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He had been through a lot, after all, and he was tired. Kuroko looked to him, and with an expression on his face that Kagami couldn't understand, he said, "I'll see you later, Kagami-kun."

"Bye," Kagami grunted. The other left, the doctor left. He went back to sleep.

He was woken a few hours later by a nurse, one who held out a phone and said, "There's a phone call for you, Kagami-san. It's from your mother."

Kagami rubbed his eyes and took the cordless phone – they had these in hospital now? – and pressed it to his ear.

"Mom?"

"Taiga, thank goodness you're awake," his mother said, and he felt a little happier for the first time since he'd woken up. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Kagami answered, "And sore. Are you still in America?"

He guessed the doctor had told his mother about his situation, because she didn't challenge his lack of knowledge.

"Yes," she said, "But don't worry, I'm coming right back to Japan as soon as I can get a flight."

"Oh no, it's okay, Mom," Kagami said quickly. Flights were expensive, and even though he kind of wanted to see his parents, he didn't want her taking time off work to see him- especially if she still worked at her old job, where she was a senior member of her company. "I'm fine. Kuroko's going to help me out for a bit."

She was quiet. Kagami wondered if she was disappointed, or offended, or if she'd forgotten about Kuroko. He'd certainly told her enough about him in his letters and calls to her when he'd joined Seirin – maybe he didn't talk about the other so much anymore?

"You know Kuroko? He's my-"

"Yes." She interrupted him. Her voice was oddly cold, but it softened slightly as she said. "I'm… sorry, Taiga. It's just… you know I don't like talking about him."

Kagami hadn't known that. When he'd spoken about his team mates before, his mom had always been happy to listen, pleased he was making friends and enjoying himself. But her voice now… he'd never heard voice full of so much dislike for someone she barely knew.

"Well, I won't come out if he's going to be looking after you," she said. She was trying to hide the harshness in her voice now, but it didn't work. He knew her well enough to tell when she was unhappy. "But I'm going to visit you as soon as I get some time off work. That's alright, isn't it?"

"Yes," Kagami said, a little quickly. "That's fine, Mom."

"Well, I'd better go," she said, and Kagami wasn't sure if she was leaving because the conversation had suddenly turned awkward or if she really had to say goodbye. "It was nice hearing your voice. You've got to call me more."

Kagami felt a pang of guilt. "I will, Mom. I'll call you in a few days."

"I'll believe it when I hear it," she said, but he could tell she was smiling. "I'll talk to you then."

He bid her goodbye and hung up, placing the phone on the table beside his bed. The room was quiet now, save for the beeping of the drip next to him occasionally, and the noise of people moving around in the corridor outside. Kagami closed his eyes. He felt like his memory was a jigsaw puzzle, and someone had hidden half the pieces. But maybe… maybe with Kuroko's help, he could find some of them again? Or maybe, like the doctor had said, one day they'd just all show up again and the puzzle would be complete.

Kagami had never been good at puzzles.

**a/n:** hey there, minna-chans! maybe it's stupid to start a new fic when i'm in the middle of a bunch of other ones, but maybe i'm stupid. anyway, this is a new fic! i hope you enjoyed it. let me know what you think if you have any comments you'd like to make, and thanks for reading!

there have been some edits to the first two chapters, but nothing major! thank you to the readers who have been kind enough to point out mistakes i've made so i can fix them. (^ ^)


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow, you've got a nice place, Kuroko," Kagami said, stepping into the apartment. It was plain and simple but immaculately well-kept. It had taken an hour to get from the hospital to Kuroko's place, with Kuroko driving – something Kagami couldn't believe, and he'd clutched onto the handle of the door the whole way while Kuroko tried to reassure him he knew very well how to drive.

_"You do too," he said, which seemed to surprise Kagami. "You passed your test when you were in college."_

_"When did you pass?"_

_"Last month," Kuroko replied. Kagami gripped onto the door tighter, and he was wondering how much it would hurt to throw himself out of a moving vehicle when Kuroko added, "Calm down, I'm a good driver. You even told me so."_

_"I did?" Kagami said, sounding confused. He hated not being able to remember things – Kuroko knew him better than himself now. Most people would know him better than himself. _

So now he found himself in Kuroko's apartment. It was nice, as he thought, and he didn't understand how Kuroko could afford it.

_"What do you do?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Your job."_

_"Oh," Kuroko said, "I work as a kindergarten teacher."_

_That seemed like a weird career choice for a guy who seemed to gloomy to entertain children, but Kagami didn't think too much of it. "And what do I do?"_

_"You're a firefighter, but until you fully recover, you're on sick leave, so please don't worry about that."_

"Please make yourself at home," Kuroko said.

Kagami stepped further into the apartment, feeling a little awkward in spite of how welcoming Kuroko was being. He was about to say something, but whatever it was was forgotten as he heard a series of barks and he turned to see a monster thundering towards him. Before he'd had a chance to react the dog leapt towards him, 200 lbs of muscle and fur, mouth agape to reveal sharp, yellow teeth; and all Kagami could think was how those jaws were going to close around his neck and he'd be dead in an instant.

The dog knocked him back against the couch. Kagami winced as he felt a jolt of pain go through him, but that was nothing compared to the fear that gripped him when… the dog began to lick his face. Frozen in terror and disgust as a big, wet tongue lapped at his face, he barely even registered Kuroko grabbing a hold of the dog's collar and hauling it back.

"Koko, get _down_!" The dog whined but backed off, curling up sheepishly on the floor by the couch, and Kuroko leant over Kagami, looking concerned. "Taiga, are you okay?"

There it was again. Taiga. Kagami was still in a state of shock, so he barely even heard the name. His voice came out in a rasp as he stuttered, "H-hate…"

"What?"

"I hate dogs!" Kagami forced out, looking to the giant pile of black fur on the floor next to him and attempting to inch away, but his entire left side hurt too much to make much of an escape.

Kuroko's confusion turned to concern, and he said, "Oh, right." His hands came to rest on Kagami's shoulders, "But please keep calm. Koko is just excited to see you because you've not been around in a while. I promise, I'll make sure she won't jump up again."

Kagami shook his head. He couldn't take his gaze off that thing on the floor. It was lying obediently right now, sure, but who knew when it would pounce on him again? Kuroko smiled, and said, "If it makes you feel better, I can find someone to look after her while you stay here."

Kagami nodded. That would be good.

Later that evening, they ate dinner. Kagami hadn't realised how hungry he'd been. Kuroko ordered take out, and Kagami questioned why he couldn't cook. Kuroko shrugged and gave an excuse about not usually having to, and Kagami raised an eyebrow. Who didn't have to cook? Did the other eat greasy junk food every night?

Halfway through dinner, the doorbell rang and Kuroko wiped his lips clean of sauce with a napkin and stood, making his way to the door. He glanced through the peephole then opened it.

"Aomine-kun."

Kagami looked up. That idiot Aomine?

"Yo, Tetsu," Kagami heard the other reply. Yes, it was definitely _that _Aomine. Kagami stood and headed slowly towards the door. Aomine looked over Kuroko's shoulder to him when he came into view. "Oh, there he is."

Kagami glared at Aomine. How dare he, his eternal rival, address him so casually? But Aomine only smirked.

"I haven't seen that look in a while," he said, "I guess you really have lost your memories."

Aomine looked much like he had in high school, save for the fact that the crease between his eyebrows had deepened and he has a layer of stubble across his chin. He rubbed his chin as he slipped a cigarette between his lips, then looked to Kuroko. "Well, I'd love to stay and catch up, but I've got to get home. I'll take the dog and leave."

"You were working today?" Kuroko asked, and Kagami noticed for the first time the other's uniform – a long sleeved, dark shirt and a silver badge pinned to the chest. No way, the other was a cop? "Sorry to ask you to do this. You're probably tired."

"Doesn't matter. If you need anything else, let us know."

This polite, helpful version of Aomine was freaking him out! It just… wasn't right! He'd rather have the other sneering at him and calling him an idiot than smiling pleasantly and looking like an upstanding police officer and civilian. But nothing changed as Kuroko thanked him and he left, and Kagami felt a little more relaxed knowing that that _thing _was out of the apartment (the dog, BTW, not Aomine)

That night, Kuroko handed him a bag of clothes, and Kagami looked at him oddly. "It's your things from the hospital. What you're wearing now are spare clothes I got from your place," Kuroko explained, and he went on before Kagami had the chance to ask: where _is _my place? "I'll wash your clothes if you leave them out for me, but for now, why don't you have a bath?"

Kuroko's place had a nice bathroom, with a shower and a large bath that could accommodate even Kagami. As Kagami ran the bath he looked through the bag he'd been given. His wallet was there, and he raked through it to find it disappointingly empty. Sure enough, there was a driver's licence in there – his picture was as unflattering as most of his ID seemed to be – and some cards to stores he didn't recognise. He placed it back in the back then had a look through it. There was soap and deodorant and shaving cream and razors (Kagami was still in a state of shock that he'd have to shave _every day _now) that he was sure he'd used in hospital, but nothing much more interesting… that was, until he sat the bag down on the floor and heard a loud buzzing.

He didn't know much about the future, but buzzing bags didn't seem to be a likely invention. He picked it back up and looked through it more carefully – and this time, he found a phone.

It was a touchscreen, unlike the chunky flip phone he'd had back in high school, but it wasn't like it was hard to use. There were a number of icons lit up, and he could figure out by the icons representing them what they were – missed calls and text messages. He hit missed calls first.

Two from his mom, two from Kuroko. One from an unlisted number. One from someone he didn't recognise. Three from a contact named 'Work'. Two from a contact called 'Home'. He tapped on home; the number began with the area code that he was in. So what did that mean? He lived near here?

None of them seemed like anyone he wanted to call back. He moved into text messages.

The last message was from the person he didn't recognise, sent this morning. He opened it.

_Shit man, sorry, I didn't know. You'll pull through, right? Everyone at the station is thinking of you. Let us know when you're feeling better._

He was a little confused. He read the message before that, sent thirty minutes previously.

_Kagami, are you going to Takano's leaving party on Friday? You gotta let me know ASAP._

He exited those messages. The next ones down were from Kuroko.

_Taiga, are you okay?_

There it was again. This time, though, he couldn't even wonder if he'd misunderstood and picked the other up wrong. His name was there in black and white, written on the screen.

He scrolled back.

_Are you out of work yet?_

_I'm worried._

He guessed these last messages were from the night he had his accident – he'd been told that he'd been run over by a drunk driver and rushed to hospital immediately; the fact that it had happened in a crowded public place and he'd been able to get help so quickly was probably the reason he hadn't had any major problems, the doctors had said. It made sense that Kuroko would be worried, but… why was he worried enough to send seven text messages (Kagami scrolled back and counted). And… why was he the person who came to the hospital to collect him, and offered him a place to stay?

It wasn't like Kagami wasn't glad to find out he was still friends with Kuroko at this age. But the fact that he didn't seem to have any closer friends… or a girlfriend? hell, a wife? he was getting on now, after all… was a little confusing.

He scrolled back. Most of the texts were boring (it seemed Kagami had a habit of texting Kuroko when he was bored at work and when the station was quiet; it also seemed that Kuroko almost invariably replied with 'I'm busy at work, can't talk').

He came across something interesting, though, from almost a week before.

Maybe interesting wasn't the right word – scary was probably more like it.

A picture of Kuroko, naked – or, well, it was off his head and shoulders, but he didn't have a shirt on! Scandalous! – with wet hair and water dribbling down his pale skin. Kagami gawped at it. Had Kuroko sent this buy mistake?! But there was no denying it when he read the caption.

_Just had a shower. What do you think?_

Kagami balked, but he felt even more sick when he read the reply below.

_I think I can't wait to get home._

Followed, a little later, by: _Happy birthday._

The bath was overflowing.

And then: _I love you, Tetsuya._

His feet and the bottom of his jeans were wet now. His hands shook as he hit reply and he texted, his mind racing. _What the hell is our relationship?_

He was frightened of what the reply would be, and yet when he got it, he read it immediately.

_I see you found your phone._

**a/n: **hi, minna-chans! ヽ(' ∇' )ノ first of all, thank you very much for your reviews, follows and favourites! i was very pleased to see such a positive reaction to the first chapter, and i hope this doesn't disappoint, though i'm not really a fan of it myself. i wanted to update this and my other kuroko fic over the weekend, but author-chan has been sick-san! （x_x) i'll update both at least once over the next week, though. thank you for reading, and have a great night! （＾ｖ＾）


	3. Chapter 3

pictures, suggestive texts, _I love yous _and _Taiga_s and _Tetsuya_s, words he'd supposedly written yet had no memory of. He didn't understand… or maybe he didn't WANT to understand, because the thought of saying those things with Kuroko, doing those things with Kuroko…

Quite simply, it made him sick.

Kuroko didn't speak, and neither did he. For a very long time, they were quiet, until finally Kagami broke the silence.

"Did you mean for me to find my phone?" He asked, his throat tight. He'd finally placed the emotion that was clenching his stomach. Anger. "Is that why you let me find my phone? You were just too chicken shit to tell me face to face?"

"Not at all," Kuroko answered. His voice was cool, composed, and that made Kagami all the angrier. How could he just stand there and talk so calmly when he was having an internal crisis?! "If it was up to me, I would have continued pretending to be your friend until you regained your memory."

"And what if I hadn't?" Kagami seethed, "You planned on keeping the last… how long have we been like _this_?... a secret? You planned on concealing my whole life because you were too scared to tell me?"

"I wasn't scared," Kuroko said. His voice scared Kagami – he was used to the other being stoic, but not stoic. He wanted Kuroko to get mad, to yell at him like he was yelling… but then again, maybe Kuroko was too mature for that. He was a grown man, of course, and Kagami was still just a child. Realising this did not make Kagami any less pissed. Kuroko continued, "If I was afraid of anything, I was frightened you'd die of shock if I told you."

"Is that meant to be a joke?" Kagami growled, and he raised his fist. He'd punched Kuroko once- that he knew of- but he couldn't bring himself to do it again. His hand shook, then fell to his side, and he turned and stormed out of the apartment.

"Kagami-kun, you're not wearing shoes!"

He heard Kuroko's voice, but he continued on regardless, even when he got outside and the pavement beneath him hurt his bare feet. His feet hurt even more when he heard Kuroko following him, and he broke out into a run. He was pleased that, fifteen years on, he could still outrun the other. But still… he didn't know this neighbourhood, and he found himself totally lost. It was dark out by now, and beginning to regret his actions, he picked a bit of glass out the sole of his foot. Maybe he should go back… but he'd no idea how to even get back.

He sat down in a bus stop, on the bench. It was cold. It was dark. He had no home to return to – or, if he did, nowhere that felt like home.

He was lost, in a strange, future world.

All alone.

"Kagami-kun…"

He could hear Kuroko's voice in the distance, as though it was being carried through time. Breathless, like just after practice.

"Kagami-kun!"

Closer now. He closed his eyes. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could go back to then…

"Kagami-kun!" The voice came right in his ear this time, startling him, speaking in as annoyed and loud a tone as Kuroko was able to manage. When he opened his eyes, he was disappointed not to find himself transported back in time to Seirin era Kuroko but instead looking at a tired, angry, _old _Kuroko. He looked as mad as an out of shape kindergarten teacher would be, being forced to run almost a mile after an amnesiac lover (?).

Kagami stood to leave again, but Kuroko grabbed his wrist. The touch alone made Kagami freeze in place.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko said firmly, as though scolding him. It seemed like the kind of voice he'd use to tell a kid at pre-school that they'd done something bad. "You are not running away from this anymore. Let's sit down and talk about this like reasonable adults. Look, I brought your favourite sneakers."

Kuroko dropped a pair of shoes at Kagami's feet, a worn looking black and red pair of basketball shoes. Kagami was reluctant but he stuffed his feet in them and knelt to tie them. At the very least, he could run away faster with shoes on.

"I don't want you to worry about the relationship we shared in the past," Kuroko said, and Kagami didn't give any sign that he was even listening to his words, but he continued anyway. Maybe he'd gotten used to telling when Kagami really wasn't listening and when he was sulking. "As long as you're thinking like this, you're Kagami-kun, and to me… Kagami-kun and Taiga are two very different people."

Kagami was quiet. He stayed kneeling, but leant back against the glass side of the bus stop, hugging his knees to his chest.

"For as long as it takes you to regain your memories- or even if you never do- I'll be here to support you," Kuroko said, "I can do whatever you think is helpful. You can stay at my house, I can tell you whatever you want to know about your past, whatever. For the meantime, I'm doing all this as a friend, nothing more."

"These aren't the shoes I had at your apartment," Kagami said. They weren't the shoes he'd came home from hospital in.

"No."

"Did you get them from my place?"

Kuroko hestitated.

Kagami answered for him. "My place is your place, isn't it?"

Kuroko nodded.

"I don't get it," Kagami said, "Why did you think you had to hide all of this from me?"

"Considering the way you reacted, can you blame me?" Kuroko said, his voice dry.

Kagami's weird double eyebrows knitted together. "That… that was because you hid it from me! You lied to me!" Kagami said. Finally he stood up, and he looked down at Kuroko as he folded his arms across his chest. "You're my friend, Kuroko- my _best _friend! If there was anyone I was future gay with, it would have to be you!"

Kuroko blinked. "Kagami-kun…"

"I mean, if you'd told me it was someone like Aomine I was dating, then of course I'd want to puke, but you… I think I got off easy!" Kagami wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. He did his best to smile, though the whole thing… was still confusing. And scary. But Kuroko was his friend – and as long as he was nothing more, Kagami was happy for it to stay that way. "I just want to be friends, but I want to get my memories back," Kagami said, nodding, "If I get them back and realise that what we had was good, then… maybe we can think about doing stuff like… _that _again."

"'That'?" Kuroko questioned.

"You know. Couple stuff." Kagami rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "Holding hands. Going on dates. _Kissing_."

There was silence, and then Kuroko laughed. Kagami, annoyed, said, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Kuroko reassured him, "It's just… you really are fifteen year old Kagami-kun, if that's what you think 'couple stuff' is."

Kagami was mystified. What else did couples do?

* * *

He realised later that night. Lying in bed (Kuroko had insisted he take it, and slept on the couch instead), his eyes snapped open as he one horrible, single syllable word drifted into his mind.

SEX!

**a/n: **ohio minna-chans! it's been a while. this chapter is pretty short, but i am slowly going to get back into the habit of updating regularly, so please bare with me for now! thank you for your reviews, faves and follows, even when i haven't been updating! whenever i need inspiration from now on, i'll look at all the support you've given me and draw my hard work and fighting spirit from them! thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Kagami had it pretty easy. He'd wake up as Kuroko went to work, cook breakfast for them, then lounge around in sweatpants reading basketball magazines and watching TV until Kuroko came back from work. Depending on how they both felt, they'd either spend the afternoon in the house before having dinner, or they'd go out for a walk before it.

Even though they lived in the same city that they had in high school, Kagami couldn't believe it was the same place. The neighbourhoods were different. Trees sprouted in places where they hadn't before and buildings had sprung up where parks had once been. There were a lot more shops, many of them filled with things that were totally alien to Kagami, with new brand names and products and unknown celebrities endorsing things. If he didn't have Kuroko to lead him around, Kagami probably would've gotten lost, even on streets that had once been familiar to him.

Today he was doing his usual, flicking through channels on TV, when Kuroko came in. The other seemed tired, and Kagami looked to him, saying, "You look beat."

"Lot of work today," Kuroko murmured, shoving Kagami's feet off the couch onto the floor and sitting down. "We had our kindergarten graduation-"

"Kindergartens have graduation now?" Kagami asked, scratching his head, "Where do they even get mortarboards that small?"

Kuroko stared at him, coolly.

"Instead of handing them their degree, do you give them the picture they coloured in that day?" He asked. Kuroko jabbed him in the side, causing him to wince and rub the space under his ribs he'd hit.

"It's a nice thing to do for the kids," Kuroko said.

"For the kids? Do they even realise the day is any different from a normal one?"

"…it's a nice thing to do for the parents," Kuroko relented, and sat back, closing his eyes. "Oh, by the way, there was a message on the answering machine for you."

"There was?" Kagami asked, sounding surprised. He'd been in the apartment all day – well, except for the thirty minutes when he'd gone grocery shopping. They must have called then. "How do I get it?"

Kuroko stood up and motioned him out into the hall. A few minutes later, and he had a detailed explanation of how to work the answering machine. He poked at it uncertainly, then set it to speaker phone to listen to it.

"I don't get why everything has to have touch screens now."

"You sound like my grandma."

The message started to play.

"Kagami, hey- I hope you don't mind me calling your place. Look, I wanted to invite you to a night out we're having. It's the usual bar, this Friday. Give me a call if you wanna go, okay? Oh, right, it's Ueda."

The message ended, and Kagami stared at it.

"Do you remember him?" Kuroko asked.

"Of course not," Kagami said_. If I don't remember you, how am I gonna remember some guy from work?_ Kuroko frowned, disappearing for a moment before reappearing with an APPLE IPAD™ (I got two dolla from that sick product placement) in hand. Kagami groaned. "Not another touch screen."

"Be quiet," Kuroko said shortly, pulling up photos and flicking through them. He stopped on a picture of Kagami with a group of strangers. "Let's see…" he murmured, scanning the faces before pointing a guy out. He looked too short and a little too chubby to be a firefighter, but Kagami did not voice that thought. "Right, that's Ueda."

"Ueda," Kagami muttered, memorising the name. "And who are the others? Do you know?"

"Fortunately, I do," Kuroko said, before listing the rest of the people in the photograph. Kagami tried his best to commit them to memory.

"But why 'fortunately'?"

"Because you're going to that night out," Kuroko said, looking to Kagami. Kagami just stared, and Kuroko said, "It might jog your memory if you talk to people other than me. Don't you think?"

"I… I'm not even old enough to drink-"

Kuroko turned to face him, catching his face in both of his hands and holding it still as he looked at him.

"You. Are. Going," Kuroko said, firmly. He let go of Kagami's cheeks, but his hands moved to grasp his shoulders. "Really. I think it'll be good for you."

"But… I don't know anybody," Kagami protested.

Kuroko shook his head. He was clearly not having any of his excuses. "I'll teach you your names. Just stay quiet and nod along to conversations, alright? They know you're having trouble remembering things after your accident, just not that it's full blown amnesia – so just go out and have fun, alright? If they bring up something you don't remember, just change the subject." Kuroko said it bluntly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kagami thoroughly disagreed, but it couldn't be helped. Kuroko was determined.

"Go and have a few drinks and talk to people," he said, "Stay for an hour, at least. And then you can call me and I'll come pick you up."

Kagami was still not convinced.

But anyway, that was how he found himself outside a bar, waiting for friends he didn't even know. He wished Kuroko could have come with him, but when he'd suggested that Kuroko had shaken his head firmly. "Nobody at your work even knows I exist," he said, which made Kagami feel a little weird. He was reading old texts on his phone – he'd found it to be a valuable source of information, both personal and otherwise – when someone came up to him, and greeted him with a bright, "Yo, Kagami!"

He looked up to see Ueda and smiled uncertainly, slipping his phone in his pocket. "Hey," he said, straightening up.

"You're not in the bar yet? Everyone else'll be waiting."

Kagami shrugged. He had poked his head into the bar, saw the table surrounded by his colleagues, then freaked a little and left. He'd been trying to build up the courage to go back in (unsuccessfully) when he'd been found out.

"I'm going in," he muttered, and followed the shorter, plumper man inside. There, he sat down beside Ueda and another guy, a woman across the table from him. She ordered a sake for him, asked 'oh, isn't that what you usually order?' when he looked puzzled, and laughed when he answered 'oh, right, of course it is'. It took him a moment to remember her name was Sumire, and she worked at the station as an office assistant. She kicked at his feet under the table, and giggled when he blushed.

Kagami severely underestimated the strength of sake. By the time he had realised he was drunk, he was being led down the street by Sumire. It was well past the hour that Kuroko had agreed on with him. It was dark, and the cold air stung his cheeks, his hands, anywhere the wind touched his skin. The hand that she held was warm, though, and when she turned to look at him, he blushed and his cheeks heated.

"Kuroko's going to be worried," he mumbled.

"Who?" She asked, falling back to walk side by side with him. Her hand remained in his. He turned to look at her. Her profile was pretty, and her black hair had been curled and framed her face nicely. She really was good looking.

"My, uh…" Kagami hesitated. "My room mate."

"Well, if you don't wanna bother him this late at night," she said, "how about we go to a hotel?"

He almost choked on his own spit.

"Or back to my place."

That was even _worse_.

"I've never been with an older woman before," he said. She laughed.

"How drunk are you?" She asked, tipping her head back to look at him straight on. Kagami blinked, then realised what she mean. Right, she looked about twenty two, which felt old to him – but in reality, he was older than her, right?

"I mean, you're very mature for your age," he said.

She laughed again, and leant into him. She was at least a head shorter than him – the same height as Kuroko actually. Why was he thinking about Kuroko? That annoyed him.

They had stopped walking now. A neon sign hung above them, and the building looked shabby. She held his hands in hers, and turned to face him.

"Do you wanna stay the night?" she asked. His mouth felt dry. She smiled when he nodded.

The room was tiny. It had a double bed, a ratty carpet, peeling wallpaper, and a TV. He lay on the bed and flicked through the channels while she was in the bathroom. When she came back out into the room, he looked up from the TV to see her standing in her underwear, her small breasts contained in a lacy black bra with matching undies. He stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You're always so quiet at work," she said, sitting at the edge of the bed. "You never talk about yourself. Do you have a girlfriend?"

He shook his head. Well, that wasn't a lie, was it?

"Then why don't you ever accept any of the girl's confessions?" She probed, leaning over to him, "And why do you turn down every woman who asks you out – including me – and then come here tonight? None of this makes any sense, Kagami."

_Tell me something I don't know, _Kagami thought. But he remained quiet.

"We've got the room until tomorrow, so why don't we have some fun?" She murmured. She knelt between his knees, unzipped his fly, and took him in her mouth. It felt nice, and his body responded to it, but Kagami wasn't into it. He stared at the ceiling above him, and wondered what Kuroko was doing right now. Was he waiting for him, worried about him? Or did he not care at all? His phone was in his jacket pocket now, and silenced – if Kuroko was calling or messaging him, he wouldn't even know.

"Hey," she said.

He looked up. She was where she was before, but her head was propped up in her hand and she was gazing at him, a look of annoyance on her face.

"Usually I don't mind sucking guys off, but when they just lie there I'm not too into it. Show some response, yeah," she sighed, her eyes fixed on him. "Is this what you're usually like in bed?"

"I don't know."

"You're kinda weird, you know that," she said. "Want me to finish you off?"

"Not really."

There wasn't much more he could say. His erection was already wilting without her mouth over it, and she seemed unimpressed.

"Guess there's not much reason for me to be here, then," she said, sitting up. She pulled the skirt she'd been wearing on, then her shirt. With her back turned to him, she said, "But I've gotta ask. Are you just too drunk to keep it up, or am I not good enough for you?"

He didn't understand how she could ask that. She was young, pretty, with a nice body, and he'd no idea how he could think she wasn't good enough for him. "I think you're very attractive," he said. He couldn't help but notice the amount of hurt in her voice when she replied, "Yeah, right."

"Seriously," he said. "I've just got a lot on my mind." He paused. "With the accident, and all that-"

"Right," she said. "Right!" Now she sounded embarrassed. Her back was still to him as she stepped into her shoes. "God, I'm so embarrassed – who goes and hits on a guy right after he gets out of hospital?" She grabbed her bag and tugged it onto her shoulder, "Kagami, please… don't tell anyone at work about this."

"I won't," he said. If it meant nobody got to hear about his embarrassing night, he'd never breathe a word about it to anyone as long as he lived. "But what about the room…?"

"You stay here," she said firmly. She was at the door now, leaving. "Goodnight. I'm sorry."

The door slammed, and she left. Kagami stared at it. How pathetic; coming to a hotel with a girl, messing up his first time – or the first time that he could remember – and then being left to spend a night alone. He could hear the couples on the other sides of his room fucking through the thin walls, and he wished he wasn't alone. Not in _that_ way… but lately, he really did feel like he was alone. Even if Kuroko was kind and supportive, and if his mother phoned every Sunday to see how he was doing, and if people from his work still texted him to ask when he was coming back – he was alone.

He rolled over the bed, grabbing his jacket from the chair it lay on and fishing out his phone. It was past 1AM, and his phone's home screen was covered in missed calls and texts from Kuroko.

Shame pulled in the pit of his stomach. He tucked his cock away and zipped up his fly and closed his eyes. Sleep came to him quickly.

In the morning, he woke up to a pounding headache and more texts and calls from Kuroko. It was only 6AM, so when he hit the button to call him, he didn't expect an answer – but Kuroko picked up almost immediately.

"Where are you?"

"I'm not sure."

"What do you _mean _you're not sure?" Kuroko sounded worried, and Kagami felt bad. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kagami said, sitting up in bed. He felt gross, the way you did when you'd slept in your clothes. "Sorry for worrying you."

"Worrying me?" Kuroko repeated. "I was calling everyone I could think of- and then people said they thought they'd saw you leave, and you left with a girl, and…"

He trailed off. Kagami said, "I'm at a hotel."

"So it was true," Kuroko said.

An awkward pause followed. Trying to smooth things over, to make things right, Kagami said, "We didn't do anything."

"What would it have mattered if you had?" Kuroko said. He was trying to sound apathetic, but Kagami heard the bitterness in his voice. "You're an adult, and you're single. You can go out with whoever you want."

Kagami leant against the wall, the phone cradled between his shoulder and his ear.

"Actually, she went down on me," he said. Kuroko was quiet, so he continued, not wanting it to lapse into another uncomfortable silence. "But the whole time, I was thinking, 'this isn't right, I shouldn't be here', that kind of thing. And I just wanted to be at home with you."

The other end of the line was quiet still, and Kagami wondered if Kuroko had hung up. But then he spoke.

"If you say things like that, you're going to get my hopes up," he murmured.

"I want to go home," Kagami said.

"Then come home."

"No," Kagami muttered. His voice sounded tight, as though he was trying not to cry. "I really want to go home. I want to go back to my bedroom and wake up and flunk a Japanese test, and then I want to go and play basketball with everyone, and then go out for burgers. I want to go home. I don't belong here. None of this makes sense."

Kuroko was quiet. "Where are you?" He asked again.

"Fuck-" Kagami choked, "I told you, I don't know!"

"Look out the window," Kuroko said. His voice was patient, gentle. "Tell me what you see."

Kagami obliged. "There's a convenience store," he said, after wiping the condensation off the window with his sleeve. "And a gas station next to it."

"Alright," Kuroko said. "I've got you. Wait for me there. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Kagami nodded, as though he'd forgotten that that kind of thing didn't carry over phone lines. Kuroko seemed to understand, though- he hung up without another word, and Kagami curled up on the bed once again, wishing his headache would go away.

a/n: gomen nasaiiiiiii for the long wait minna-chans!


End file.
